Root's Shadow

As Tejima Shinichi pushed open the front door, the lingering glow of the setting sun painted the entryway a warm gold.

"I'm home."

Before the words had even faded—

Bang! Bang!

Two crisp pops rang out as colorful confetti and gleaming streamers fluttered down from overhead, covering him from head to toe.

Mori Chie and Teshima Kazuto each held a spent party popper, beaming as they clapped enthusiastically.

"Congratulations, Shinichi! You're officially a Konoha ninja now!"

Chie's voice was gentle, her eyes brimming with pride.

Kazuto stepped forward directly, looking at the ninja forehead protector on Shinichi's head as he clapped him hard on the shoulder and laughed. "Just what I'd expect from Teshima Kazuto's son!"

Shinichi froze for a moment. Looking at his parents' undisguised joy and this warm welcome ceremony,

the "sage mode" brought on by the intense battle that had just ended rippled once more at the sight before him.

This simple, ordinary scene was exactly what that guy named Uzumaki Naruto had dreamed of but could never have.

Shinichi gently brushed the confetti from his hair and answered with a smile, "Yeah."

At the dinner table, the atmosphere was livelier than usual.

Kazuto eagerly pressed him. "Shinichi, tell us already. Who's your Jonin Instructor? Is he strong? What kind of ninja is he?"

Shinichi swallowed his food and answered calmly, "His name is Yamato."

"Yamato?" Kazuto scratched his head and looked at his wife beside him. "Chie, have you heard of him? Doesn't sound like he's very famous."

Chie frowned slightly, thought carefully for a moment, then shook her head.

"I really don't remember him. Before I retired, I never heard of an elite Jonin by that name. Maybe he was promoted in the last few years, or..." She paused, then guessed, "...perhaps he's been serving in the Anbu all along?"

"Yeah, he was in the Anbu before. And..." Shinichi nodded and added, "He can use Wood Release."

"Oh, he can use Wood Release..." Kazuto replied instinctively, then suddenly realized what he had heard. His eyes widened instantly. "Wait! What did you just say?! Wood... Wood Release?!"

Clack.

The chopsticks in Chie's hand fell onto the table with a crisp sound.

She did not notice at all. She only stared at her son in disbelief, her voice trembling slightly. "Shinichi... are you sure it was Wood Release? Wood Release like the First Hokage's...?"

"Yeah." Shinichi confirmed, "He used Wood Release Ninjutsu to defend against my Rasengan, and he used a binding technique that grew wooden branches from underground."

Chie took a deep breath, trying hard to calm the turbulent waves in her heart.

As someone with the Senju Bloodline, she understood better than anyone what awakening Wood Release meant!

It was the symbol of the Senju Clan's pinnacle of power—the mighty force that had pacified an age of war!

"Then that means he... he's a member of our Senju Clan too."

If their Jonin Instructor was from the same clan, then he would naturally take even greater care in guiding Shinichi.

That was Chie's first thought.

Shinichi's movements paused as Yamato's true origin of acquiring Wood Release flashed through his mind—an experiment involving the First Hokage's Cells...

He gave a vague response, the end of his voice rising with uncertainty. "Probably... maybe. After all, if he wasn't from the Senju Clan... how else could he use Wood Release?!"

But that vague answer was already enough to put Chie at ease, even make her happy.

"That's wonderful!" She picked up her chopsticks again, a relieved smile blooming across her face. "Since he's a senior from our clan, Mom can rest easy. He'll definitely guide you well!"

She began to look forward to it. As a senior with the same Senju Bloodline and the power of Wood Release, Yamato would surely be able to better guide the power lying dormant within Shinichi.

Seeing how happy his mother was, Shinichi said nothing more and simply lowered his head to eat in silence.

From the same clan... he murmured inwardly. Perhaps, in terms of the bloodline origin of that power, it counted.

Deep within Root's dark base in Konoha.

Shimura Danzō sat alone in the shadows. His single eye fixed on a Root member kneeling on one knee below him, while the cane in his hand struck heavily against the ground with a dull thud.

"...So Yamato voluntarily ended the test and acknowledged every member of Team 1!?"

The Root member reported in an utterly flat voice.

"Target Tejima Shinichi displayed a terrifying amount of Chakra during the test, far surpassing that of a Genin and forcing even Yamato to temporarily avoid his edge. His tactical style favors long-range ninjutsu suppression. He used multiple C-rank and B-rank techniques, including Water Dragon Jutsu, Earth Dragon Jutsu, and the Double Suicide Decapitation Technique, and furthermore..."

The Root member paused before continuing.

"...it has been confirmed that he has mastered the A-rank ninjutsu Rasengan, which he used to briefly contend with Yamato..."

"Rasengan..." Danzō's hoarse voice sounded in the darkness, carrying a trace of chill. "The Fourth Hokage's technique... he has mastered it too..."

Cold light flickered in his single eye. The resentment of having been forcibly stopped by Sarutobi Hiruzen and failing to obtain the boy now surged again like poisonous vines.

Such immense Chakra, such astonishing talent for ninjutsu, and the purest bloodline of the Senju Clan... he was simply the perfect Jinchuriki vessel!

More than that, he was the seed of the most powerful weapon Root needed!

Yet now, Hiruzen—that indecisive fool—had handed him over to Yamato, that useless wretch who had betrayed Root and pledged himself to the Hokage!

"Yamato... Kō..."

Danzō softly spoke the codename he himself had once bestowed, disgust flashing through his single eye.

A failed experiment. A traitor who had turned his back on the darkness. And now he was responsible for guiding the genius Danzō was determined to claim?

What a joke!

Such a perfect vessel, such a seedling bearing the Senju Bloodline, should have been transplanted into Root's soil and personally forged by him in the darkness into the sharpest weapon—the ultimate power to protect Konoha... and realize his ideals!

Rather than growing into some useless greenhouse flower beneath Sarutobi Hiruzen's naive, weak "Will of Fire"!

"Hiruzen, your indecision and so-called 'light' will only waste this talent and may even bring hidden danger to the village..." Danzō narrowed his single eye, and a cold gleam flashed within it. "This child is destined to belong to Root."

Shimura Danzō slowly rose to his feet, shadows swallowing most of his body.

"Continue closely monitoring Team 1, especially every movement of Tejima Shinichi. Also..." He paused, lowering his voice further into an unquestionable command. "Reassess the Wedge plan. I need a plan... that will make him willingly approach the darkness."

"Yes!"

The Root member lowered his head to accept the order, his figure silently melting into the shadows and vanishing.

In the vast darkness, only Danzō's cane-supported figure remained, along with his single eye flickering unsteadily within the shadows.

"Tejima Shinichi... how could such an uncut gem be allowed to waste away beneath the sunlight? Root is where you ultimately belong... only, the time has yet to come..."